The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Special Agent Yung of the FBI, sir,” Castillo answered, “Special Agent Britton of the Secret Service and Corporal Lester Bradley. Bradley’s a Marine.”

“Good afternoon, sir,” Colonel Torine said from behind him.

“Hello, Jake,” Naylor said and shook his hand.

None of them look smug, as if they’ve just pulled off something clever. They all look uncomfortable. As if whatever crazy operation they launched went the wrong way?

“I’m waiting, Charley,” Naylor said.

Castillo pointed to the aisle at the rear of the cabin.

There was something there wrapped in what looked like sheets. And then Naylor knew what It was.

“Another body?” he asked, icily.

“Sir, those are the remains of Sergeant First Class Seymour Kranz,” Castillo said. “He was KIA last night.”

“What?”

“Garroted, sir,” Castillo said.

“Garroted?”

“Yes, sir.”

Castillo took the blue steel garrote from his pocket and extended it to Naylor.

“By who? Where?” Naylor blurted and then hurriedly added, as he pointed to Yung and Bradley: “Are these gentlemen privy to what happened? Or anything else?”

“They are aware of the Presidential Finding, sir. And they participated in the operation in which Kranz lost his life.”

“And what was the operation?”

“We located Mr. Lorimer, sir. We staged an operation to repatriate him. We were in the middle of it when we were bushwhacked.”

“By who?”

“I don’t know, sir. Mr. Lorimer was killed during the attack as well as Sergeant Kranz.”

“And the bushwhackers?”

“They were killed, sir.”

“Where did this happen?”

“In Uruguay, sir.”

“Uruguay?” Naylor asked, incredulously, and then verbalized what he was thinking. “The last thing I heard, you were in Europe. Hungary.”

“We were, sir. But we tracked down Lorimer in Uruguay.”

“And are the Uruguayan authorities already looking for you? Or will that come a little later?”

“So far as that aspect of the operation is concerned, sir, we came out clean.”

“You came out with two bodies? And you call that clean?”

“We left Mr. Lorimer’s body in Uruguay, sir,” Castillo said. “What I meant to say is that I don’t think we left anything behind that could tie the operation to us.”